After a 3-month hiatus, I am back to the blogosphere with plenty of good wishes for a belated but very Happy & refreshing 2012 to all. I hope the year has been good so far and you are looking forward to the rest of the year.

In the beginning of the year, a friend said that 2012 is a year of change. I made fun of him then, but I get a feeling – he is going to be right.

For me, 2012 kicked off in a memorable way. V started school this year. Play school – but a school nevertheless. He was excited about going to school and that was a good sign. I really didn’t expect him to be shy. I was more worried about the other kids as my little one can be too friendly at times and this goes beyond the social norms of what is acceptable as friendly. How do you teach your little ones to behave in the most “adult” like ways. Shake hands (don’t hug someone you just met 5 minutes ago… because that’s socially frowned upon). At the same time, we hug our kids at every opportunity we get. I tell him not to give instructions to other kids (the poor guy is just doing what he is told) because we should let other people be & honestly because it’s not what is expected of a kid his age. Other kids have their own parents to instruct them! Ironical, isn’t it?

I often wonder about the true meaning of the word ‘parenting’. I wish it were as simple as providing the best environment for our kids to turn out to be the smartest in every sphere of life – it is not. Is it us trying to be good parents or is it our kids teaching us how to be good parents – instinctively through their innocence? They inspire us to introspect. They make us want to be a better person – someone they will feel proud to have as their Parent.

It goes beyond the relationship shared between our children and us. It is also a constant reminder of our parents’ journey to get us to where we are today…

Leaving you with that thought and looking forward to your views, it’s time to talk about the refreshing Avocado chutney.

This one doesn’t have a very long history. When we were growing up in India, Avocado was something I’d never seen or heard of. However, I am told that it is readily available now, at least in the metros. This version of the chutney originated in my big sis’ home in Vancouver & it’s traveled a long way since. It’s been shared with friends and has become a part of their daily meals as well.

When you buy avocado from the market, you will most likely need to leave it outside the fridge for 2-3 days to ripen. This ensures that the avocado is soft and easy to mash. You can feel the softness by pressing on the outside. Once it is ripe, store it in the fridge. As a word of caution, do not leave it out for too long !

Now cut the avocado from the middle, as shown in the picture. Pull out the halves by twisting the 2 halves in opposite direction. Next, scoop the avocado out from the skin using a spoon. If the avocado is ripe, it will come off quite clean.

Using the back of a fork, mash the avocado in a bowl. I have used a blender to do this job but I prefer using the fork because the pulp is so soft that blending in makes it into a paste. I like its buttery and nutty texture and using a fork preserves that texture.

Absolutely beautiful — both your thoughts on parenting and the chutney!

As a parent of two amazing souls (9 and 12) and an avocado lover, I can tell you I LOVED this post. I often think about the lessons I learned from my parents — both the good and the not-so-good — and wonder what my children will reflect on about me and my parenting skills when they are older.

It has been an eye opener to me, this parenting “thing”: At first, I thought my job was to remove all obstacles to give them the best life possible. Now I’ve come to think my job is to help them navigate their obstacles (including failures) to provide themselves the best future possible. Quite the challenge…

Thank you:) As I said, you didn’t get Avocados in India where I was growing up. You can say this is an Indian take on guacamole with all the mustard oil (which has a very strong flavor), roasted cumin powder and no tomatoes. The taste is different from guacamole mainly due to these ingredients.

Isn’t it an odd thing, sending your little ones out into the world? Sometimes I hear myself saying out loud the social norms that I want my kids to conform to and suddenly think, why? It’s a good opportunity to reflect on our values, I guess. So in the end I do occasionally tell my kids not to boss everyone around, but I don’t tell them not to hug people they just met (unless they seem like they don’t want to be hugged!). I feel like children often intuitively do things that, if we all did them, might make the world a little more joyful. :)

I really agree with you on the issue of the ‘hug’. I believe TOO that some of the things children do intuitively are actually the normal things we all ought to do to make the world a better place. Thanks for sharing that thought. I love Avocado too. Great recipe.

@ emmycooks & @penny2014 : Absolutely!!:-) It’s such a learning process for us and the kids.. I too try to let him be as much as possible.. But I guess it varies from situation to situation – and upon how others / other parents perceive your child’s behavior..

I like green avocados. I do.
And I would eat them with an onion.
And I would eat them with green chiles.
And I will eat them in the some garlic.
And in ginger. And on a leaf or lime.
And with garlic. And with mustard.
Say! I will eat them anyway!

yeap, great guacamole recipe – I’d omit the ginger too to be honest. I was intrigued by the mention of ‘chutney’ along with a picture of vibrant green mushed avocados. I thought it’d be a cooked recipe with vinegar and sugar and am glad the avos were not ruined by being boiled or something.

I love avocados and guacamole, but this might be a very interesting diversion from guacamole. And FYI, a study was done that proved acids do NOT prevent avocados from browning once they’re cut. The only thing that works, apparently, is keeping air away, and that can be done by putting clear cling wrap over the top of the avocado (or avocado mixture) and pressing it into the avocado so no air gets to it. All other methods are simply old wives’ tales.

That’s weird! I would think it would have been almost black on top by then! I read about some tests somebody did with lemon/lime and vinegar, and nothing worked except for cling-wrap on top which kept the air out. So who knows? Anyway, all that stuff makes it taste good!

Chutney is a side dish, like a relish.. the term chutney is used in India and other South Asian countries to refer to a dip / side dish / relish and can be made with anything – tomatoes, corriander, mint, mango, being the common ones.. Let me know how it turns out if you try it:)

i love avocado and in fact, i have an avocado tree in my garden which we had planted not too long ago, so with lots of luck maybe they will bear fruits in 3yrs time.. your recipe looks yummy and delicious, need to try it.. thanks for sharing.

Great tip, thanks:-) In fact, there was a little bit left over and we ate it 24 hrs later. It was still vibrant green almost like the previous day. I think it was due to the lime. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts on the recipe.

This looks so good! You have inspired me to do more with my avocados than add slices to my turkey sandwich. I have never seen mustard oil in the stores- is it easy to find? Is there a replacement ingredient you could add instead?

Thanks:) Mustard oil can be found in indian stores if there are any in whichever part of the world you live in. Alternatively, you could use some olive oil. Though I like the zing that mustard oil gives to this dish:)

I never thought to put ginger or roasted cumin powder with avocado! This looks absolutely wonderful. I am slightly obsessed with avocados and upon seeing that photograph on the front page, well…
Thank you so much for sharing, I cannot wait to make this!!! :)

Love avocados any time of the year- anything from just sliced on a sandwiched to mixed up with variety of ingredients– the flavors in this one sound interesting…will adjusting the amounts, as you say, will it change the total flavor a great deal- or just make it more subtle??? Also, great pics- I am thinking I should not have read this just before lunch- soooo hungry now!! :-)

Thank you for visiting:)
If you change the amounts, I would suggest do that only for the qty of ginger and garlic because not everyone likes ginger and garlic. I love it so I don’t mind getting bits here and there. Altering the other ingredients may make the dish a little too subtle.

My first thought was, mmm…guacamole – but I already have a recipe. Then I saw it was a chutney instead, which gives me the perfect excuse to try this out. I do love me some avocado! Thanks for sharing.

Reblogged this on Yeah, Na, Yeah and commented:
Just came across this blog. The Avacado Chutney is something I will be making this weekend, it looks so great. I make a similar dip with corriander, lemon juice, tomatoes (finely chopped) and garlic but never with the ginger and cumin powder. Yummo!

I didnt get a chance to make it last weekend but I bought a couple of Avocados today and hopefully by next weekend they will be ripe enough to use. We are on the end of our Avocado season here in Australia. I am an all year round avo lover!!